Relax, says Rachel

I love my yearbook editor, Rachel. Here she is:

I couldn't find a photo of her without some friend plastered to her forehead....that's the kind of girl she is. Always has a bevy of babes around her, a kind-of mother hen leading the gaggle of geese....so to speak.

So, I bothered her today via text message with details about the book. She told me to relax and stop thinking about it on a Sunday. HA. That's like stopping breathing on a Sunday. But I had a brilliant idea. She has created a photo of Maytag that's yearbook worthy...so i say we get rid of the extreme sports layout and replace it with a tribute to Maytag...it deserves it after 100 some years in the community. Sorry Jordizzle, but I think we can't get much better than last year's extreme sports layout, and since you haven't even started it, I'm sure it won't be hard to kill. I love journalism terms. Kill. Put it to bed.

I hate bifocals, which I will pick up from the eyeglass place on Wednesday...middle age has struck with a vengeance...plantar fasciitis last week, new purple Ralph Lauren no-line bifocal glasses this week.

It's a love and hate kind of day.

Photoshop fun

I learned something all on my own today: Now I can resize photos, grayscale photos, adjust levels and brightness/contrast, resave in a new format, apply a filter, and now (drumroll please) how to desaturate and add spot color!

Example #1: Evil Itchy and Scratchy!

Another Damn Thankful List

On this Thanksgiving vacation, I'd like to officially declare thanks for the following:

• A nice soft couch that cushes my butt. As a matter of fact, this couch has been in my family since the 70's.
• Healthy family members, for the most part. Yea, Phil's teeth suck and my heel blows, but those are minor maladies.
  
• Students who rock, and former students who keep in touch and crack me up.
• Children who are happy, and who I hope inherited none of my overactive brain. Well, I know Walker did, but maybe Quincy will escape the curse.
• A husband who takes care of my every need.
  
• An extended family who doesn't argue very often...
• AND FINALLY, my beautiful fingernails. It's the little things, like the fact that I'm not in Iraq.

I hate these fucking thankful lists. What I'm really thankful for, to tell you the truth, is the fact that I can still do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight...

Itchy and Scratchy

Just for fun, I'll introduce you to the newest members of our family: itchy and scratchy.

I caved in to pressure from my boys, because we were down to 3 cats and that seemed about normal from having the mess of 6 cats. But their mother died when they were little, and Shauna Smith raised them and bottle fed them, so we decided to adopt them.

This is what keeps me sane and insane all at the same time.

I want to burst out in song: The Circle of Life... (from the Lion King, because life is a Disney movie...)

Ads suck and blow

We sold ads this week and the entire experience left me exhausted and spent. From organizing it with Amanda, who is so dedicated it is scary, to encouraging kids to follow-up, which is like spitting in the wind, the process was agonizingly time consuming. I need a parapro to help, and I haven't even got the guts up to ask for one yet.

So, the big day was Thursday, with Tuesday and Wednesday spent preparing lists and routes and practicing for "the sale." I had Jostens support the first two years of doing this, so this was the first time out by myself. And it went ok, i guess. If we follow-up, we will have made as much as last year, and can have our color issue in May for the newspaper. But we won't have any extra money in yearbook to buy any cameras or anything. I'm in good shape though, except for the printer and scanner.

So, all in all, ads are just "there." We didn't break any records, but the Newton community seems to support us enough to sustain us, even with the departure of Maytag and the lonely repairman.

It's just all the drama and organizing that's giving me a headache. That sucks, and it blows that we're not supposed to say suck and blow in school. Oh well, I still say hell and damn and ass occasionally.

But in my blog I can say fuck and get away with it. I like that. It helps break the tension of this incredibly high energy teaching gig I've gotten myself into. I love it and hate it all at the same time. And that fucking sucks AND blows.

"Bus!"

The week that yearbooks come in is like working at McDonald's when a bus pulls in.

Everyone wants their yearbook NOW! Parents call and interrupt class, as if getting their son/daughter's yearbook was the most important thing in the world.

Of course, it was Halloween Day when we distributed them, so it WAS fashionably late. But still, I feel like the most popular person at good old NHS. The only problem is that we are working on THIS year's yearbook, and it is going as slow as every other year.

Plus, the next step is selling ads, mainly because we are $7,000 short on last year's bill. Matt, my yearbook rep, said not to worry. But I'm worried.

Some days I feel like I'm riding the short bus. You know, I just heard that phrase for the first time this past year. For being so smart, sometimes, I sure am stupid.